Educating an Incommunicative Guest

[Brian2036]

I just had to write a review for a millennial-generation guest who clearly does not understand the importance of communications.

 From the start his communications were terse and I nearly declined the reservation.

Booking message was terse and made me nervous:

”check in late checkout early fishing trip with father.”

OK; first, how late, how early, and why are you telling me rather than asking?

Besides that why are you booking for one person rather than two? Or possibly more than two?

After I made it clear that I would not accept this booking without clarification the guest responded, after several hours, with a little more information.

He ignored further attempts to engage in discussion.

They did arrive well after dark with no ETA and I had to chase them down after my watchdog informed me that there was someone out there in the darkness that didn’t belong here.

After I guided them to the Chalet they were polite and friendly and mentioned that they had been driving around sightseeing in the area all day and “maybe should have checked in before dark.”

Apparently they were oblivious to the fact that I am not a hotel desk clerk and might have things to do other than sitting around waiting for them.

 We had no contact during their two-day stay, even when I offered to give them an extra day for free, because the weather had been unpleasant for outdoor activities.

They did not bother to notify me when they left, which again left us sitting around waiting to go up and clean.

 I was not surprised that he didn’t bother to write a review. Today was the last day of the review period and I debated ignoring it myself, but finally decided that I have an obligation to provide information to other hosts.

 I wrote:

“Guest and his father were polite and friendly when they arrived and left our Chalet clean and neat.

Hosts may want to remind Guest of the importance of communication from the pre-booking message through checkout and review.”

I rated him 2* for communication, and, after serious thought, checked “Would not host again” in hopes that it will bar him from using IB in the future.

This sort of thing may not bother hosts who have dealt with much worse, or those who use self checkin, but for us the unnecessary annoyance was not worth the price of a 2-night stay.

 I would appreciate the opinions of other hosts regarding my review.

[Brian2036]

@Katrina79 

That’s interesting and possibly explains some of the inconsiderate behavior.

 I considered writing a private message to the guest, but since he has chosen to ignore me thus far, even when I offered him a totally free  bonus night which I was in no way obligated to do, I decided that if it elicited any response it might be a rude one.

So in this case I’m kind of going along with the philosophy mentioned by someone previously:

Human nature has always been to do nothing that doesn’t benefit you personally.

Of course that’s an oversimplification and I don’t have much use for people who haven’t learned that courtesy costs nothing and may well benefit them in the future.

[Susan1188]

@Katrina79
I don't agree! She let other hosts know her experience and frustration.

Do you need a neuroscientist to tell you that it is common courtesy to answer the messages of the person who is letting you stay in their house, to let your host know when you will be arriving and departing?  

The review is honest and non-judgemental, tells about this host experience without judging or guilting the guest.

Up to the future host to take it up with the guest, or not.

Guest will now know, this is not acceptable behaviour.
Or will seek out self check in.
Either way everyone is better off.
It's a *review* of your *experience* and this experience frustrated this host.  So she told it like it is.  Refreshing.  Bravo.

[Katrina79]

@Susan1188 @You don’t have to agree with me, it was Brian asking for input tell him what you think. 

[Gregory87]

@Brian2036 

We periodically encounter guests similar to yours who aren't communicative.  Therefore, we make it a point to set expectations from booking through check-out.  When we send the confirmation (welcome) message, guests are told to expect to hear from us a few days prior to their arrival.

If the guest appears new to AirBNB, we state that we aren't like hotels and have different procedures and expectations.  We offer to "hand hold them" through the process and urge them to review our listing and rules.

Should a guest fail to respond to our pre-arrival message (sent a few days prior to their check-in date as promised) and they also ignore AirBNB's reminder about the upcoming booking, s/he is sent a text message explaining that we haven't heard from them to make final preparations for their stay.  We strongly hint that the rental may not be ready for their visit if they don't respond in a timely fashion.

This usually results in a hasty response along with apologetic excuses.

Like you, guests are asked to notify us upon departure from the rental.  Failure to do so is noted in the review.  Also, if they haven't been communicative, it is mentioned in the public review AND we discuss the importance of communicating with the host in the private comment portion of the review so they can improve for future visits.

What you posted was fine.  Hopefully your guest will know how to interact with hosts for future bookings!

[Anonymous]

@Brian2036  When I accept a booking, my standard spiel includes asking the guests when they'd like me to schedule to meet them for their arrival. If they don't seem to already have their transport booked, I give them what amounts to a deadline to supply the info that I need before check-in. On the rare occasion that they fail to respond in that time frame, I shift immediately from asking to telling: I haven't heard back, so now I'm scheduling the check-in time window for xx:00 to yy:00 (last hour of the listed window). 

I haven't noticed any particular generation being an outlier on communication skills - that seems more of an individual thing. But people using the mobile app (now a majority of users) are less likely to read the listing text or send messages in complete sentences than those using the desktop version of the site. The interface is part of the problem.

[Brian2036]

@Anonymous 

Interesting point about the interface.

If someone is going to use a desktop they have made a decision to put some time and effort into booking.

If they’re using a smartphone they can do it while standing in line at the grocery store.

Unfortunately the app sucks in a variety of ways, is difficult to see, and encourages brevity because people are likely to be interrupted by someone who found it necessary to broadcast their dinner menu.

This explains the emphasis on Instant Booking, which has puzzled me.

If I’m about to spend several thousand dollars on a vacation booking I’m going to sit down at the computer and prepare to devote at least a couple of uninterrupted hours to research. Maybe a few days.

Apparently I’m not a typical guest.

Incidentally, while I have often shopped on the Airbnb site, I have always ended up booking on a different one.

[Kevin1322]

"better suited to a hotel" to prime other hosts and check the box "would not host again"  Pribate feedback about the communication, then forget it and move on.

Life's too short 

[Susan1188]

Absolutely agree with you and bravo for that review if I saw it I would not host this guest.

We have to educate them and protect ourselves thank you for being honest.  In a way that the guest cannot dispute or take offense with.  Well done.

[Brian2036]

@Susan1188 @Kevin1322 @Anonymous @Gregory87 @Katrina79 

UPDATE: Mr. Mysterio did not bother to write a review.

Why should he? No immediate reward for doing it, so FU.

 I would hope that he will wonder why he’s not allowed to IB in the future, but that probably won’t happen.

He’ll just open an alt account and blame Airbnb.